beets bloggin' --homemade pickled beets

Gardening in Swan Valley is turning out to be more challenging than either me or the hubs thought. BUT, the beets are doing GREAT!

 We looked and looked for recipes on line & in my home canning book and every recipe called for spices (cinnamon, allspice, cloves, peppercorns!, dill!, ) and we are not spicy people.

Not in our pickled beets anyway...

So when in doubt, ask mom because pickled beets as a kid were the BEST!!!

She told us that she didn't remember the recipe exactly, but she did remember that in her sister Yvonne's recipe she called for equal parts sugar and vinegar.

THAT'S why they must be soooo good!!!

Most all the recipes we were finding called for less sugar than vinegar.

So we did equal parts sugar, white vinegar (supposed to hold color best), and water. Heated to boiling and let simmer for about 3-5 minutes.

 Now because I've gotten my horse before the cart, you start by picking and washing (obviously) the beets. Next you cut the tops to two inches and leave the roots, cook until fork tender, submerge in cold water and peel the skin and trim the ends.
This time, we put our washed jars in the oven on  225 F to keep them warm/hot so then we just dumped peeled beets in the bottles, ladled hot brine over them to 1/4 inch head space and processed for 20 minutes in our steam canner.

Now, we only ended up with four puny pints after all that, but it was pretty simple so we can do it again when the rest of the beets grow a little more.

We ended up with left over brine so I think I may take that can of whole beets in my cupboard that I thought were pickled, but obviously didn't read it well and no one in their right mind in this house likes un-pickled beets and combine the two in the fridge for refrigerator pickles.

Hey, that sounds much easier...

I may be on to something...;)

Can't wait to eat these beauts!